Junebug and Darlin

Junebug and Darlin started as a collaboration between best friends Zoe Frost (ie. Junebug), and MaryLynne Smith (ie. Darlin). We met while peddling baked goods at a farmer’s market in Oakland, CA in 2013, and in 2016, we started a business to provide our friends and fellow crafters with the inspiration and tools to create heirloom quality subversive crafts. We created Junebug and Darlin as a way to encourage novice and veteran makers alike to learn how to cross stitch with ease. As makers, we found it challenging to find kits that matched our aesthetics and ideals for both heirloom quality design and queerly subversive narratives. We wanted to make kits and art that spoke to who we are and what we want to see in the world, while providing all the necessary supplies and instructions. The goal is to provide a platform for makers of all skill levels to create a piece of artwork that is as unique and subversive as they are. We try to enact change by supporting makers to take the needle in their own hands and stitch messages that are radical, subversive and empowering. MaryLynne has since moved on from the business, but the name remains.

The business is now solely run by me, Zoe. I am a queer femme currently living in Portland, Oregon, making it as an artist and graphic designer. Having spent most of my life in California, I am eagerly adventuring through my new surroundings of pine trees, ferns and rivers with my partner and our two dogs. I believe that art should be useful, crafting should be for everyone and, above all, everything should have a queer agenda. I combine nature, queerness and good ol’ fuck the system attitudes to make my artistic endeavors what they are today and am always scheming up ways to incorporate my drawings into needlework. My cross-stitch kits are 100% handmade and provide all of the supplies needed for you to create a finished cross-stitch from first stitch to frame. I want my products to be useful and instructive to you, and I can guarantee a political agenda.